Speaking of patent lawsuits - somebody pointed out to me that both Oracle and Google are members of the Open Invention Network. This struck me as odd - doesn't the OIN license require you to promise not to assert your patents against Linux systems? And, uhm, isn't that kind of what Oracle is doing right now? Well, yes, they might be suing a Linux System - but they're not suing a Linux System as defined by the OIN.

Doesn't matter. MeeGo uses those software packages. OIN affiliates can't sue each other over those.
Eg. Oracle sued Google over Java. If Google used Python, for example, Oracle would be breaching a contract with OIN and could be countersued for that.

On phones, a whole can of new patents comes into play due to the use of technologies that simply don't play a role in desktops and servers.

Doesn't matter. If those phone-specific technologies are implemented by extending the packages currently covered by OIN (eg. establishing a UMTS connection via NetworkManager or whatever is patented these days), OIN members are relatively save.
Yes, OIN does not cover all patents but at least gives its adopters more safety. Additionally Intel and Nokia said they help defend all MeeGo adopters who get sued by someone else and since Nokia is a major mobile player and grants royalty-free patent licenses via (L)GPL and Apache licenses, that gives additional safety for adopters.